Jamaica Trip Day 2: Welcome to GoldenEye

First Day on Site

Yesterday I fell asleep only knowing the resort bed, but this morning I awoke to the gorgeous world of GoldenEye and Oracabessa, Jamaica! We finally got to explore the villa in daylight and it is far more gorgeous than what can be captured in the pictures I have included. Below are pictures of my family and I outside our villa and the entrance to a detached portion of the villa that I stayed in.

Our villa is the only one at GoldenEye that sits on the beach and has lagoon access. It even had two outdoor showers, and there is nothing better than taking a nice warm shower surrounded by Jamaica's natural beauty. Enjoy some pictures of the view and a peek inside my portion of the villa!

After the previous day of travel, we didn't get to breakfast at the oceanfront Bizo Bar until almost 10 AM, but the food did not disappoint! I had a fabulous smoothie with local fruits including pineapple, mango, papaya, and guava along with waffles topped with whipped cream and bananas soaked in Jamaican rum. Right next to the Bizo Bar is the stunning Golden Eye pool, specifically shaped like an eye with a golden ring around the iris.

The highlight of breakfast was the two cats, named Bizo and Lucky, that live at the restaurant. Bizo and Lucky are resort pets, but there are many friendly and technically stray cats that moved into the resort while it was closed due to Covid-19. Three of the stray cats loved to hang around our villa, especially during meals, so my sister named them! The two orange ones were named Tiger and Justice (we only saw Tiger a few times), and the white and black one was named Muffin. Take a look at Bizo and Muffin!

After breakfast, we went on a walk across around the property and got a plate of local fruits for lunch which included guava, mango, pomelo, papaya, lime, and soursop. I had never heard of soursop before I arrived in Jamaica, but its texture is similar to that of an apple and it does taste a bit sour.

Our villa came with two kayaks and two paddle boards, so after our fruit lunch, my family and I took a trip down the gorgeous, calm lagoon. We even swam from the lagoon around to the beachfront.

Finally, we ended the day with a private dinner on the resort peninsula. I had butternut squash with feta cheese and finished the meal with a fantastic key lime pie.

About GoldenEye

My dad and I are huge fans of the James Bond movies, and that is partly why we came to GoldenEye. Ian Fleming wrote the first 14 James Bond books in a Jamaican villa that is now apart of the GoldenEye resort. You can typically stay in the Fleming villa, but it was unavailable during our stay as it is being renovated. GoldenEye is currently owned by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, but it is quite interesting how he came it have it.

Blackwell's mother and father divorced when he was young, but after Ian Fleming and Blackwell's mother, Blanche, became good friends and were rumored to be in a romantic relationship. She became Fleming's muse and the basis for some Bond girls. After Flemings untimely death caused by a heart attack in 1964, the villa was own by Regge icon Bob Marley for only a year. Then Blackwell's mother convinced him to buy the villa and Blackwell has owned it ever since. In 2011, Blackwell opened the GoldenEye Resort. Here is more info on the history of GoldenEye.

Blackwell was a location scout for the first James Bond movie, Dr. No, and even had a cameo. Four Bond films were filmed in Jamaica: Dr. No, Live and Let Die, Man with the Golden Gun, and the opening of the most recent film, No Time To Die. You can even see Blackwell Rum featured in No Time To Die. This is my strongest movie recommendation EVER! Go see No Time To Die ASAP! It makes the list as one of my favorite Bond movies ever, and it is the only Bond movie to leave me in tears.

If you want to see more of my travels, you can follow me on instagram through the instagram button at the bottom of each page of this blog. As always, I look forward to sharing more of my adventures in Jamaica!

Always,

Paris